Log in or become a subscriber

A new report calls for employers to stop treating upward bullying as an "interpersonal issue", and recognise it as "a distinct organisational and governance risk".

The report, Upward Bullying Exposed, is based on a survey of 450 CEOs, board-level and senior leaders. It found 70% had personally experienced upward bullying, nearly 80% had witnessed it, and nearly three-quarters believed it was becoming more frequent.

According to its author, workplace culture and leadership specialist Maureen Kyne, many employers' workplace bullying frameworks "obscure the behaviour leaders actually experience".

"When organisations fail to distinguish upward bullying from traditional bullying, they misclassify harmful behaviour as conflict, feedback, or performance concerns. This delays accurate diagnosis and results in responses that arrive too late, or not at all," she says...